Too Little, Too Late?
by sonamyfanfiction
Summary: Sonic and Amy feel for each other a great deal, however, everyone only knows this about Amy. Sonic is struggling to tell Amy how he feels, but when he finally gets up the courage it might just be too late. Eggman might have just ruined the chance, for good. Is it too little, too late for Sonic and Amy? Does Amy even find out how he feels? Let's find out!


It was a beautiful Saturday morning on the planet of Mobius, and a familiar flash of sapphire blue raced along the dirt tracks of the small village in which Sonic and his friends lived. This village was like no other in the universe, it's so beautiful. Always in bloom, always ripe, able to hear the birds chirping and the bees buzzing. When it rained it was never gloomy, it was just as beautiful. The rain drops fell gracefully from the tree leaves, cobwebs and into the rivers and creeks in the crevices of the valleys. This flash of blue continued to speed along the dirt tracks, over the hills, under the trees and across the rivers. Sonic stopped on a hilltop to take in the view. Every now and then he would think to himself how lucky he was to live in such a beautiful place, however it also reminded him of how much he missed his friends back on earth, especially Chris. He smiled to himself and continued to run back to where he lived with his best friend, Tails.

In no time at all, he was back home and found Tails in their garage working on a new piece of machinery. He cleared his throat in order to avoid startling Tails.  
'Oh, hey Sonic, what's up?' Tails said, as he looked up from what he was fiddling with and noticed his friend.  
'Not much, pal, what are you working on?' Sonic questioned, watching Tails work on this new piece of machinery.  
'Just fiddling with an engine, trying to see if I can upgrade it. If I'm successful I'm going to install it to the X-tornado. This is just a spare time thing though, I should really be making repairs on the Blue Typhoon.' Tails said in a concentrated tone.  
'Oh cool. You ok? You sound a little tense.' Sonic asked cautiously. Tails dropped the set of pliers he was fiddling with onto his knee and let out a slight grunt.  
'Argh, I'm fine. Just frustrated with the repairs.' Tails said, hiding the real reason he was frustrated.  
'Are you sure this has nothing to do with Cosmo?' Sonic questioned. Tails and Cosmo liked each other, a lot, however they were both too scared to admit to each other.  
'What? No? What are you talking about?' Tails said suspiciously as he looked at Sonic beginning to blush. Sonic gave him a look, expecting him to crack under the pressure.  
'Oh fine, it's about Cosmo. I'm just stressed.' He admitted.  
'Stressed?' Sonic asked, 'About what?'  
'About what to do. I'm too scared to even talk to her properly let alone ask her out.' Tails said, slightly embarrassed. Sonic tried to give him a comforting smile.  
'Come on, Pal. Cosmo likes you just as much as you like her, it's obvious. Don't be scared, just do it!' Sonic exclaimed giving a signature thumbs up. Tails gave a slight smirk.  
'Maybe you should take some of your own advice, eh Sonic?' Tails said with a grin.  
'Huh? What are you on about?' Sonic questioned, becoming curious.  
'Don't you think the same situation applies to you and Amy?' Tails said looking at him smiling.  
Sonic was at a lack of a comeback so instead he just head locked his little brother figure and began to mess up his hair. They both began to laugh then Sonic threw him away.  
'I'm going to get something to eat, I'll see you later Tails.' Sonic said with a smile as he walked away. Tails gave a giggle and a wave to say goodbye.  
Sonic walked to the kitchen, picked out a piece of fruit then walked upstairs. He leaned against the open door frame that led out to the small balcony. He got to thinking about Tails' comment about him and Amy and how it related to Tails and Cosmo. Sonic hasn't admitted to anyone yet, not even out loud to himself, how he feels about Amy. He knew Tails was right, it was time he also bucked up and said something to her. Only difference being, he was scared she would get too excited and go overboard… He let these thoughts simmer in his mind as he finished his fruit.

It was around 10am that morning and Amy had finished all of her household morning chores. She didn't have much else planned today so she decided to take a mid-morning stroll and get some fresh air. She sort of hoped she would find Sonic run past her at some point, but she didn't. She figured he had probably gone for an early morning run or wasn't even awake yet, it was either one or the other with him. After a few hills she came across Cream, Cheese and Cosmo hanging around near a small pond surrounded by a few small shrubs and flowers. She smiled and waved, when they saw her they waved and yelled for her to come and join them.  
'Hi Amy! How are you?' Cream exclaimed as Amy walked towards them.  
'I'm fine thanks, what are you girls up to?' Amy asked them.  
'We thought it was such a nice day we would go for a walk when we came across this pond and decided to take a rest stop.' Cosmo said with a smile. Cheese was playing around in the water as Cream would laugh and splash around with him. Amy sat down with them next to a small flowered shrub.  
'What are you doing out, Amy? Don't you do your chores on Saturday mornings?' Cosmo asked.  
'I do, but I didn't have all that much to do this morning and instead of baking I figured I wouldn't waste a beautiful day like today and go outside. I thought I might go and visit Knuckles too, but I think I'll leave that for a little later.' Amy said sweetly.  
'Hey I have an idea,' Cream began, 'we should do some cooking today! We could take some up to Knuckles? He has been busy guarding the Master Emerald lately, I'm sure he'd appreciate it.'  
'Yes, we could also take some to Tails as well.' Cosmo added, beginning to blush a little.  
'That's a great idea, we can all head back to my place! Before we go though, help me pick a bunch of flowers for my kitchen table.' Amy said through a grin as they all began to pick some beautiful, fresh roses.

The three girls began to make their way back to Amy's house, discussing what dishes they would make. They decided in the end that the boys would probably eat almost anything so they would make all the sweet things they cooked the best. Amy remembered one time when she was experimenting with a peach cheesecake, she let Sonic test it and how much he loved it so she figured she would make that again and take it to him. After a short walk, they were back at Amy's lovely cottage home. Cream took all of the flowers they had picked and arranged them nicely in a few vases around the kitchen and living room.  
'Alright girls, what should we make first?' Cosmo asked.  
'Well, I was thinking I'd make a peach cheesecake. Sonic loves them.' Amy asked  
'Tails likes strawberry shortcake, or anything strawberry really. We could make a little bit of everything with strawberry in it for him.' Cosmo suggested, Cream nodded to agree with her.  
'What do you think Knuckles would like? We should probably make some extra in case we run into Rouge as well.' Cosmo said. Rouge intimidated Cosmo, more than a little. However, Cosmo was never unkind to her and always tried her best to remain on that bat's good-side. For now it was working.  
'Oh Knuckles will eat anything we cook, maybe some chocolate biscuits or something?' Amy suggested. Cosmo and Cream smiled, Cheese got excited and danced and then they all got started.

After they had turned on Amy's two ovens, cleared the benches and set out the recipes they got to mixing and baking and of course, chatting away like the sisters they basically were. Amy started thinking about all the times she was cooking with Ella in the kitchen back on Chris' home planet.  
'I'll never forget one of the best things Ella told me one day when we were cooking together.' Amy said.  
'What was that?' Cream asked.  
'The way to a man's heart, is through his stomach!' Amy exclaimed and the three girls began to laugh. Cosmo was unfamiliar with Ella, so Amy and Cream began to tell her all the adventures they had had with her, Chris, Mr. Tanaka, Chuck and all the other friends they had made on earth. It took another hour or more to get everything cooked and served, ready to take out but they eventually got it ready to go.

'Let's take Knuckles' treats to him first, then we will come back here and get Sonic and Tails' treats and take them to their place.' Amy said. Cosmo and Cream agreed and they set out towards Angel Island, where the Master Emerald was guarded by Knuckles himself. Most of the time he was guarding it from Rouge but the other twenty percent (or more) of the time she couldn't be bothered battling him and she would sit and talk to him. Luckily, the girls caught them on an afternoon where they had decided to simply sit and chat.  
The Master Emerald was a huge jade coloured gem that sat high on a pedestal, the only way to get to it was to climb the step stairs leading up to it. However, in order to even gaze upon its beauty that close up you would have to go through Knuckles. This pedestal was surrounded by seven smaller pedestals, more like poles that measured to be the same height. They were to hold the seven chaos emeralds, but it was a rare occurrence that they were actually there. Right now they were floating around the planet somewhere. Difficult and beautiful little contraptions chaos emeralds are.  
As the girls approached the bottom of the stairs Amy yelled out to Knuckles and Rouge and waved. They both looked down the stairs to see the girls waving at them. They smiled, waved back and made their way down the stairs to greet them.  
'Hi guys,' Cream began, 'We've been cooking today and we made you both some biscuits and cupcakes!' Cream exclaimed as she handed over the basket of goodies to Knuckles. Knuckles blushed a little and Rouge smiled. Amy and Cosmo smiled and giggle a little at Cream's excitement.  
'Wow, thanks guys!' Rouge exclaimed.  
'What's the occasion?' Knuckles asked as he was already gobbling down on a choc chip biscuit.  
'No occasion.' Amy said with a sweet smile.  
'We just decided to do some cooking for all of our friends today, we are going to see Tails and Sonic next.' Cosmo added with the same sweet smile.  
'Hmm, well that's awful cute of you kids. Knucklehead and I really appreciate it.' Rouge said in her regular, alto tone. Knuckles began to choke on the third biscuit he was eating realizing he hadn't really thanked them yet.  
'Yeah girls, thanks for that. We owe you.' Knuckles said, subtly gasping for air. They all began to laugh at him.  
'Of course, anytime.' Cosmo said, bowing her head.  
'We best let you guys get back to guarding the emerald, we hope you like it all!' Cream shouted as she waved goodbye.  
'Knux, I might swing by tomorrow or something and we can catch up, yeah?' Amy suggested to Knuckles.  
'Sure but uh.. the next little while I might be a little busy during the evenings,' he began as he began to blush and Rouge smiled and started to blush also, 'so try and make it around the morning if that's ok?' he finished.  
'Oh!' Amy exclaimed shooting them both a cheeky smile, knowing that Knuckles must have finally got up the courage to ask Rouge to spend a little more time with him. 'Well don't worry, I'll make sure I won't interrupt your evenings.' She finished with the same cheeky smile, she waved goodbye and jogged a little to catch up with Cosmo and Cream.

'Alright, ladies, let's go back to my house and pick up the rest of the treats and take them to Sonic and Tails' place. It's only a short walk, ten minutes or so.' Amy said.  
'Sounds great!' Cream agreed and Cosmo nodded. They made their way back to Amy's small cottage home along the dirt tracks. It was a long but beautiful walk, but then again, what walk wasn't beautiful on Mobius? The girls talked and laughed about anything and everything as girls do. Amy and Cream told Cosmo more about their time on Chris' planet, Amy teased Cosmo about Tails and Cosmo would shoot back with a comment about Sonic which would send Cream into hysterics. She was too young to know of love, or what any of it meant. All she know was the good side, the happiness, the joy and the laughter.  
'Tails really likes you, Cosmo, you know that right?' Amy said.  
'W-what? Oh I don't think so,' she began as she blushed furiously, 'I think he actually finds me annoying.' She finished as she bowed her head in slight disappointment. Amy and Cream looked at each other in shock and then smiled.  
'Cosmo, do you really think he would spend as much time with you as he does if he thought you were annoying?' Amy questioned.  
'Yeah, he loves having you around. I can tell, we all can!' Cream exclaimed with a bright expression on her face. Cosmo, still as red as a tomato, began to lighten up and smile at the thought of this.  
'Hmm, well maybe you're right but I don't like to get my hopes up too fast.' Cosmo said, 'Enough about me though, how about you and Sonic, Amy?' Cosmo questioned, changing the subject.  
'Huh?' Amy asked, startled by the sudden change of topic.  
'Yeah Amy, we know how you feel about him. You should spend more time together?' Cream said cheerfully, clearly not fully understanding that it was more complex than just that.  
'Uh, well… I've tried I guess but he just isn't interested right now I suppose… I just… I don't know.' Amy stuttered, which frustrated her.  
Everyone, including Sonic, knew Amy was desperately in love with him and had been for a long time. She had no shame in showing him affection, especially when he had saved her from Eggman's grasp. However, no one really knew how he felt, they just assumed he wasn't interested. It made Amy upset that she simply couldn't get anywhere with him, so when the topic of the two of them came up, she really had no way to express herself. Cosmo and Cream hated seeing Amy so upset, she was kind of bowing her head in what looked like a train of thought.  
'Don't worry, Amy.' Cream said in the attempt to comfort her.  
'You know Amy, I think Sonic really does like you, he's just afraid to show it.' Cosmo said, which made Amy's ears prick up.  
'You really think so?' Amy asked.  
'I do. He'll tell you when he's ready.' Cosmo said with a comforting smile which made Amy smile.

They had eventually gotten back to Amy's place and quickly wrapped up everything they needed to take over to Sonic and Tails. About a fifteen minute walk later, they had made their way over to Sonic and Tails' home. Their house was a little bigger than Amy's, but it wasn't huge. It was two stories, but the only thing upstairs was a storage room full of all Tails' junk and Sonic's bedroom, which of course he never used because he slept on the roof most of the time. The kitchen, garage and everything else was on the bottom floor. The girls figured that Tails would be home and if they would find him anywhere, it would be the garage, so they walked around to the side door and let themselves in. The found Tails fiddling with a part on the X-Tornado, more than likely making repairs of some sort.  
'Hey Tails!' Cream exclaimed as she ran over to greet her brotherly-figure. Tails turned around to see Cream running over to give him a hug.  
'Oh hey, Cream,' he exclaimed as he hugged her back, 'what are you guys doing over here? It would be almost 5pm?' Tails asked, at that moment he noticed Cosmo and began to blush a little, they subtly waved at each other and smiled.  
'Is it that time already? Wow, the day has really flown by!' Amy began. 'Well, we have been doing a lot of cooking today and we decided to bring some treats over for you and Sonic.' She said.  
'Oh wow! Thanks guys! Just a second and I'll go find Sonic, I know he's here somewhere.' Tails said as he walked to the door leading into the rest of the house and yelled out Sonic to come to the garage. Sonic yelled back saying he would be there in 5 seconds and of course, like he said, he was there in 5 seconds.  
'Oh hi girls, what are you guys doing here?' Sonic said casually.  
'They've been cooking, Sonic, they brought over stuff for us. What did you cook by the way?' Tails asked.  
'Well for Tails we made your favourite, Strawberry shortcake! It was Cosmo's idea.' Cream said cheerfully. Tails looked over to Cosmo and gave her a great big smile which made her blush even more.  
'That's really nice girls, thank you!' Tails said, taking the cake from Cream.  
'Sonic, I remembered that time I let you test that peach cheesecake you like so much so I made it again.' Amy said. Suddenly Sonic starting acting strange, as if he didn't know how to react to Amy's kindness.  
'Oh, wow, cool. Thanks Amy. Uh, Tails, can you take that? I've got to go…' Sonic said, quite distracted.  
'What? Aren't you going to stay and talk to the girls?' Tails questioned, trying to get him to stay.  
'I can't, I'm sorry. Thank you for the cake though. Bye.' He said, and with that he was gone.  
'That was strange?' Cosmo said.  
'I don't even notice anymore, but you're right.' Tails added.  
'Well I guess we should get going then, right Amy?' Cream asked looking at Amy who didn't answer, she was in her own world.  
'Amy?' Cosmo and Tails said simultaneously.  
'Huh? Oh right, yeah let's go. See you Tails.' Amy said as she walked out the door and shut it behind her.  
'I'm guessing Sonic's sudden change of mood upset her.' Cosmo suggested.  
'I think you're right, poor Amy.' Cream added.  
'I'm really sorry guys.' Tails apologized on Sonic's behalf. The girls brushed him off and waved goodbye to catch up to Amy. Cosmo and Cream tried to cheer her up and of course she made out she was merely tired from a long day, so she dropped them off at Cream's place and made her way to her own home.

The sun was setting now but Sonic continued to run. He was in desperate need to clear his mind, especially after he had so rudely brushed the girls off after they had come to see him and Tails. _I need to buck up and tell her, dammit! _He began to think to himself. _I know how she feels about me, I feel the same, I just need to tell her. Why can't I admit it? Why do I do this to her? To myself? I'm almost sure Tails knows, but I can't risk telling him. _It felt as though the faster he ran the faster the thoughts would course through his mind. He hoped that eventually they would just fly out his ears but it wasn't working. He stopped for a second along a riverbed, near a small yet exquisite garden. He leaned over to smell them and they had such a powerful and beautiful scent. He got to thinking about this garden and how it reminded him of Amy. Small, beautiful and powerful. Needs tender love and care and it doesn't take much to hurt them. He let out a great big sigh and sat himself down and watched the sun for a little longer. He thought to himself that it was maybe time to do something about the situation, to stop being a hero and be human. Well, hedgehog…

It was almost dark now and Amy was still making her way home, she figured she was in no rush so she would make her way there at her own pace. She also started thinking to herself… _Why did he rush off like that? Sometimes he is fine around me and other times things go pear-shaped, what's up with that? _Without even realizing it, her thoughts turned into words and she began to say everything aloud. Not that it mattered, who would be around to hear them?  
'What is his deal anyways? Why can't I just get a definitive answer? Does he have feeling for me or not? Is he interested or not?' she asked no one in particular. She began to trail off and stay silent for a minute longer, she then looked up at the sky as if she were asking someone up there for help.  
'What is it going to take to win his heart? I've tried everything.' she questioned.  
'Have you really?' A voice replied. Amy swung around behind her to see who the voice was.  
'Whose there? Who is it?' She kept calling out. She was suddenly aware of the fact that she was alone, in the dark and someone mysterious knew her secrets.  
'Chill out hedgehog, it's us!' Decoe and Bocoe exclaimed jumping out from behind the bushes. Without any more thought, Amy whipped out her hammer and held it towards them and they began to quiver.  
'I'm warning you, don't take another step closer!' she yelled at them.  
'Ah! Please don't hurt us, we only deliver a message!' Decoe pleas with desperation. Amy lowers her hammer at this.  
'What are you talking about? What message?' She questions, genuinely curious to know what the pair want. Usually they come with messages for Sonic or Knuckles, maybe even Tails but never her.  
'Doctor Eggman, he wishes to see you. He believes he can solve your problem.' Bocoe says as calmly as possible. Amy's ears prick up but attempts to remain calm.  
'What problem? I don't have a problem with anything or anyone, except maybe you two!' She exclaimed raising her hammer again. The two robots jumped again but managed to calm the atmosphere again.  
'Please, Amy, he wants to talk to you about Sonic.' Bocoe says. Amy becomes full alert and attentive at the sound of his name.  
'What about him?' she questions.  
'We are unaware of the details but come with us and we shall take you to the doctor. He will tell you everything you need to know, that's a promise.' Decoe says as he puts his hand over his heart. Amy looks over her shoulder, back down the path towards Sonic's home and wonders whether or not she is doing the right thing.  
'Alright, I'll go. Be careful though, I'll bring you a world of pain if you're wrong.' Amy said with as much confidence as she could muster.  
They begin to walk through bush land for a short while. Amy kept her wits about her, always keeping watch and looking around for anything suspicious. She prepared herself to be taken to some sort of small ship to be taken to Eggman but to her surprise, only a few miles into the bush land was Eggman himself in his own hovercraft.  
'Good evening, Miss Rose, how are you?' Eggman asks politely.  
'What do you want?' Amy asks cautiously.  
'Straight down to business it is then. I have a proposition for you Amy, one I feel you won't be able to refuse.' Eggman says.  
'Is that so? You're kidding yourself if you think I'm going to trust you or even consider this deal in the slightest.' Amy shoots back.  
'Are you at least willing to hear me out first?' he asks her.  
'Out of curiosity. Go ahead.' Amy says, secretly eager to know what he wants with her.  
'I want to retire, Amy, but I need a guarantee that we can all be at peace-'  
'You need a guarantee? You've got to be kidding! You're the one that starts everything!' Amy yells, cutting the doctor off.  
'Just listen, Pinky. I need a guarantee that we can all live in peace, so I have a deal for you.' Eggman begins then leans forward to stare further into Amy's eyes, 'I will give you the key to his heart, if you can guarantee peace. No more fighting from your side. Nothing whatsoever.' He finished. Amy couldn't believe what she was hearing, she had so many questions that she couldn't get out all at once.  
'How did you know?' she questioned.  
'Oh please, who doesn't know?' he shot back. She huffed at this.  
'This favours me far more than you, Eggman, it sounds awfully suspicious.' Amy puts forward.  
'I can understand your skepticism, Miss Rose but I mean every word. I know how desperately you want to be with Sonic and I can make him love you just as much if not more if you simply sign my contract and you and your fury little friends leave me be.' Eggman says to her with what appeared to be a genuine smile, but history dictated it was highly suspicious.  
'How? How in all of Mobius are you going to make him love me?' Amy asks, her voice beginning to crack. She was beginning to get emotional.  
'Amy, I'm a scientist. You and your friends can't deny that in my time I have created some pretty damned good machines. The one I'm in the process of now, will send all your troubles out the door.' He promised. Amy stopped and thought about it, she couldn't see the harm in it. After all, it was a win-win really?  
'Where do I sign?' she said with a sigh. Eggman whipped out a pen and the contract and Amy quickly wrote her beautiful, cursive signature at the bottom, it was like she was signing her life away.

It was getting close to 9pm by the time Amy had finally made her way home. After she had signed Eggman's contract they had to discuss details. Whenever any of them suggested going out to look for Eggman to make sure he wasn't up to something, she was to stop them. No matter the cost, she was to keep them all away from Eggman and his henchman in order for him to finish the new machine for Amy and then they would all live in peace. If it failed, the contract dictated that Eggman could take Amy prisoner and she was to remain there forever. No yelling for help, no trying to break out, no nothing. She really had risked signing her life away, all for the hope of winning Sonic's heart.  
She walked into her bathroom and splashed her face with water trying to assure herself that this wasn't a dream. She then walked over to her phone to see she had a few missed calls, one from Tails and one from Cream.  
*_Message one*_ Hi Amy, it's Tails. I'm really sorry about earlier. Come over again tomorrow and we can talk. Hope you got home ok. See you tomorrow. *_beep*  
*Message two* _Hi Ames, it's Cream and Cosmo here. We were just calling to make sure you got home ok. Give us a call back when you can!_*beep*_  
She let out a sigh and decided she just couldn't talk to anyone right now. It had been quite an eventful afternoon. She went and had a shower, had a small snack and then made her way to bed. She really wanted today to be over, as soon as possible.

The next morning, it was 10am before Amy woke up. She was shocked at how long she had slept in for. Then she suddenly remembered last night's happenings and wondered if it was all a dream. She figured the only way to test it out was to replay the messages on her phone and see if Tails and Cream's messages were still there. If they weren't she knew it was just a dream. Unfortunately though, when she hit replay, there they were clear as day. She began to panic and breakdown a little. It had only just hit her what she had done, if she fails to keep everyone away from Eggman then she becomes his prisoner. The only thing that made her feel better about it all was the fact that it didn't put anyone else in danger, however she still feared for herself. She knew Eggman's word was legitimate, the contract was sure something special. As these thoughts continued to course through her head, she was startled by a knock at the door.  
'Uh… Just a second.' She yelled out as she tried to compose herself. She opened the door and of course, there to see her in her daggy pajamas, unbrushed hair and bad breath, would be Sonic.  
'Oh God, Sonic. What are you doing here?' she said frantically trying to straighten herself out.  
'Hello to you to Amy?' Sonic giggled.  
'Sorry, you just startled me, come in. I'm so sorry I look a mess I've just woken up.' Amy said as she shut the door behind Sonic. The then both took a seat on her living room lounge.  
'Oh... don't stress, it's fine. I, uh, just came over to apologise about yesterday.' Sonic said, slightly embarrassed. Amy looked up at him, wanting to smile but re-thought it.  
'So I'm guessing Tails sent you?' she questioned.  
'What? No! Well… yes, but I wanted to come, Amy, I swear.' Sonic said desperately.  
'Oh calm down, Sonic. Apology accepted.' Amy said with a smile.  
'Oh… right. Good!' Sonic said, returning her smile.  
'So what are your plans for today?' Amy asked.  
'Well I'll probably go for a run and see if I can find somewhere new. I haven't seen Eggman for a while, I was thinking I might go and pay him a visit!' Sonic exclaimed with a smile.  
'NO!' Amy shouted without thinking. Sonic gave her a strange look, that's all it took to question her sudden outburst.  
'I mean… don't you think we should just leave it?' Amy questioned him.  
'What do you mean?' Sonic asked her giving a suspicious look.  
'I just mean, everything has been so nice and quiet lately. If we go and stir him up it'll never be the same.' Amy said as she got up and walked into her bathroom and hung her head over the sink. Sonic looked at her and cautiously followed her, but stopped himself at the bathroom door.  
'Amy, are you ok?' Sonic asked carefully. Amy quickly looked up at him and frantically scanned her brain for a response.  
'What? Yes, I'm fine. I'm sorry, Sonic, I think you should go. I will see you later.' She gave a small smile and shut the bathroom door. Sonic stood at the door for a few seconds in shock and then slowly turned around to let himself out. When he went outside and shut the door behind him, all he could make himself do was walk. He couldn't even muster up so much as a jog, he just kept thinking about what was the weirdest encounter he had ever had with Amy. _So much for telling her how I feel… _he thought to himself. He was tempted to turn around and demand what was wrong with her but he figured it would only make things worse.

After a short walk home, he went into the garage and walked straight past Tails who was, once again, fiddling with a small machine.  
'Hey Sonic, how'd it go with Amy?' Tails asked but Sonic just kept walking.  
'Sonic? Uh… Sonic?' Tails got up from the ground and follow him all the way up to his room where he walked out to the balcony and rested his arms on the ledge.  
'Sonic?' Tails questioned as he waved his hands in front of Sonic's face, 'Hello? What's wrong? Answer me!' Tails grew more and more frustrated.  
'Something is wrong. Very, very wrong.' Sonic said, without even looking at Tails.  
'Huh? What do you mean? What happened with Amy? Did you apologise?' Tails questioned.  
'I did. She accepted. Then, she went weird and told me to leave?' Sonic said, still not moving a muscle.  
'What? She couldn't be that upset over last night.' Tails said.  
'It wasn't about last night, it was something else.'  
'Like what? Other than you running off last night she was fine when she left here.'  
'I don't know. Something is wrong, though.'  
'Maybe I should talk to her, she will surely-'  
'No! She'll know I've said something.' Sonic said, cutting Tails off. Tails put a hand on his shoulder in the attempt to comfort him, but it wasn't working.

A few days passed and Amy began to lighten up. Things went back to normal, Cream and Cosmo came to see Amy regularly and they would bake or go for walks. Sonic and Tails had seen them all since and everything was fine. Knuckles and Rouge had also caught up with them all, it was like Amy's outburst and off mood had never happened, which only confused Sonic more and more as the days went on. However, every time someone brought up Eggman in front of Amy over this week, the mood that Sonic had seen her in before sprang up. She came up with a reason not to go looking for him, not to see him, not to stir trouble. It was becoming more and more obvious. Sonic was the only one that had seen her off mood that day and had worked out at this point it had something to do with Eggman. He couldn't stand to see Amy like this anymore, so without mentioning a word to anyone he left that night to find Eggman.  
Eggman's new base was deep in the tropics now, usually the trip was better suited for the X-Tornado but unfortunately if Sonic didn't wanted to be spotted, he'd have to foot it. It took an hour or so for Sonic to find the base, due to getting lost once or twice, plus it was dark. Sonic went to the housing part of his base and knocked on the door, suddenly a camera focused in on him.  
'What are you doing here?! Especially so late?! Do you have any idea what time it is?!' Eggman yelled at Sonic over a microphone.  
'Let me in, Eggman, we need to talk.' Sonic said calmly. Now that the doctor was actually awake, it hit him that Amy had failed. He let out a slight chuckle.  
'Alright then, Hedgehog, come on in.' Eggman said, trying to hide his excitement. The door opened itself and Sonic cautiously walked in, down a hallway and into a big room which was, what he thought, was supposed to pass for some sort of living room.  
'Nice place you got here, Egghead.' Sonic said sarcastically.  
'Thank you, Hedgehog, but enough with the chit-chat. What are you doing here? Especially so late?' Eggman said through a small grin.  
'Something is wrong with Amy and I know you have something to do with it.' Sonic said as straight forward as he could.  
'Oh is that so? What makes you think I've done anything to her?' he questioned.  
'I know you have. Without trying to lead on, she is protecting you from us. I don't know why but I do know that she would only ever do it if it was absolutely necessary. What have you tricked her into?' Sonic said assertively, growing more and more frustrated.  
'Protecting me from you? What have you got planned?' Eggman said, beginning to chuckle.  
'Dammit, Eggman, quit playing games! What did you do to her?!' Sonic yelled.  
'Oh settle down, Warthog. I swear _I_ haven't done anything to _her_.' He said, with emphasis.  
'What's that supposed to mean?'  
'Maybe she is the doing something to all of us? Ever think of that?'  
'Shut up! Amy would never do that!' Sonic yelled. Eggman sat himself down in an arm chair, crossed his arms comfortably and began to stare at Sonic who was standing in a rage, which was low-balling to say the least.  
'I've been watching from a distance, Sonic. We ALL know how Amy feels about you, but you continue to reject her. Maybe she is giving up? Maybe she has decided to pay you back.' Eggman said, letting these words sink into Sonic's head. For a second, Sonic actually considered this to be a possibility. He then looked dead into Eggman's eyes…  
'Go to hell.' Sonic said as calmly as possible.  
'You'll find out, Hedgehog.' Eggman said, with the same narcissistic smile.  
'I know you know what's going on.'  
'You'll figure it out, trust me.' Eggman said gently. Sonic turned around and began to walk down the hallway.  
'Tread carefully, Sonic, tread very carefully. Life doesn't give second chances very often.' Eggman said just as Sonic went to open the front door. Sonic stopped at the door and listened to these words, wondering what they meant, however instead of asking he simply opened the door and left. Sonic ran as fast as he possibly could back to his own house, in the hope that no one had woken up while he had be out and noticed he was gone. When he got back, everything was as it was when he left and he let out a sigh of relief. He made his way up to his bedroom balcony and up onto the roof.  
'Oh, Amy,' he said aloud to himself, 'what is going on?'

The next day was a beautiful sunny Thursday on the planet of Mobius. Amy awoke at around 8:30am, a little later than usual, and went through her morning routine. At around 9:30, maybe even closer to 10am, she heard a knock at the door.  
'Just a second!' she yelled out as she walked briskly to her front door. She opened it to find Sonic standing on her front doorstep holding a picnic basket.  
'Oh, Hi Sonic! How are you this morning?' she said sweetly, like her normal self. Sonic couldn't have been more relieved to see that like everything else, Amy was back to normal.  
'Hey Amy, I'm fine. I was wondering if you weren't busy today, we could go for a picnic somewhere?' Sonic asked, gesturing to the picnic basket. He braced himself for one of Amy's death grip hugs and screams of excitement.  
'Really? But… you can't even boil an egg let alone pack a lunch, Sonic?' Amy said, giggling to herself. While this was true, Sonic was surprised at her response. He tried to laugh it off, however.  
'Tails made it, we won't be getting food poisoning today. So… what do you say?' Sonic asked again, suddenly getting even more nervous.  
'Sure! I'd love to.' Amy said stepping out her front door and locking the door behind her.  
'So where are we going?' Amy questioned.  
'I don't know yet.' Sonic said with a smile. He then gave Amy the basket, picked her up in a bridal position and began to run at the speed of light. This made Amy's heart skip a beat and the butterflies in her stomach almost explode. She let out a small screech and then began to smile. After a few minutes they came across a hilltop with the most spectacular view. They could see treetops and within the crevices of them they could see riverbeds, surrounded by gorgeous plant life.  
'Oh, Sonic, this place is beautiful! You must have found this spot here on one of runs I'm guessing?' Amy asked, turning to him.  
'Actually no, I've never been here before. I have now.' He said, smiling at her.  
'Oh! Well I guess you and I are the first here, it sure looks that way anyways.' Amy said, trying not to blush. It began to dawn on her that maybe she didn't need Eggman's help. Things were going great all on their own! She thought about it while they began setting up their picnic and she decided that after Sonic had dropped her home, she would find Eggman and cancel their deal.  
They began eating, talking and laughing, it was nice just the two of them. They never really got to spend any time together. Especially somewhere so beautiful like here.  
'I wish you had told me you were planning this lunch, Sonic, I could've done the cooking.' Amy said.  
'I wanted it to be a surprise.' Sonic said, beginning to blush.  
'That's sweet, I kind of feel sorry for Tails doing all the work though.'  
'Ah, in my defense, I was making it but then Tails caught me screwing it all up and he told me to leave and he would fix it. I really didn't have a say in the matter.' Sonic said, slightly embarrassed. Amy couldn't help but burst out with laughter at this, which only made Sonic laugh too.  
'It's so nice to see you laugh, Amy. I've noticed you haven't really been yourself the past few days?' Sonic said cautiously. As these words came out of his mouth, Amy's smile instantly faded away and Sonic regretted ever bringing it up.  
'I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said anything. I just didn't know-'  
'I'm fine, Sonic, just haven't been feeling great. I'm much better now.' Amy lied, cutting him off. However, she would feel much better after she had ended all of this nonsense with Doctor Eggman.  
'I'm glad, it's just nice to see you happy.' Sonic said trying to force a smile.  
'I'm fine, you big baby.' Amy said with a smile, throwing a grape at Sonic hitting him in the face. They began to laugh and started throwing grapes and berries back and forth. For a few minutes they were have so much fun, laughing, joking, and smiling and not having another care in the world. Until everything went south… they could feel the ground begin to shake. It started out only gentle and they thought it was nothing until it began to shake more and more violently until a huge machine burst through the earth's surface right in front of Sonic and Amy. Amy let out a scream, Sonic grabbed her and they began run. However, not even Sonic's fast mind or feet could match the giant claws of this beast right now. Two giant claws swooped down and picked up both Sonic and Amy, one in each claw. The claw raised them up off the ground so they could see it's operator…

'Eggman!' Sonic yelled.  
'W-what? No? T-that, that's not-'  
'not what, Amy? In the contract?' Eggman exclaimed cutting her off, he then let out a huge laugh as Sonic and Amy hung from the claws stunned.  
'What are you talking about, Egghead?' Sonic said, trying to break free of the claw's deathly grasp.  
'I kept my end of the deal! You now have to keep yours, so what in hell are you doing to us?!' Amy screamed.  
'Deal? Contract? What the hell is going on, Amy?!' Sonic screeched in frustration.  
'Oh I suppose I best fill you in Sonic. Miss Rose and I made a sort of deal about a week ago.' Eggman said, turning to Sonic. Eggman drove his machine to land on the ground, without releasing the two hedgehogs from it's grasp.  
'What deal? Why?' Sonic exclaimed. Amy bowed her head, beginning to panic. Eggman pulled out the contract with Amy's signature on it and began to read.  
_'I, Amy Rose, hereby agree to keep Sonic and everyone else away from Doctor Eggman in order for him to finish building his new machine, 'The Eggman Supreme-Crusher', so he is able to take over this planet in order to expand on the Eggman Empire.'_ Amy looked up, tears beginning to form in her eyes, realizing this is not the contract she had signed, _'After this, I willing hand myself over to Doctor Eggman and work for him for the rest of my life along with the rest of his henchman. If I am to fail to keep them away from Doctor Eggman, he is to destroy everything and everyone I love. Signed, Amy Rose.'_ Eggman finished and let out a huge laugh. Amy looked over at Sonic who was looking at the ground in shock, he couldn't fathom what had happened.  
'No! No, Sonic! He's lying! That's not what I signed!' Amy cried out in a desperate plea.  
'But your signature is write here?' Eggman said, showing Sonic the contract with Amy's beautiful, cursive signature at the bottom of the page.  
'No! This isn't right! For starters, that isn't the contract I signed and secondly I didn't fail! I kept everyone away! No one has-'  
'you're wrong, Pinky.' Eggman began, cutting her off, 'I'm guessing Sonic didn't tell you about his trip last night?' Eggman said through a large grin. Amy looked over to Sonic, who looked back at her… she began to cry.  
'No… you didn't. Why?' She asked him.  
'I wanted to know what he'd done to you. Why you were defending him. Now I know, you're a traitor.' Sonic said, trying not to let any emotion show.  
'No, Sonic, please! You don't understand! He's lying! I didn't-'  
'you're signature is right there, Amy!' Sonic yelled at her, cutting her off.  
'Love… it really is a heartless bitch, isn't it?' Eggman said beginning to chuckle. He commanded the claw holding Amy to drop her and she quickly dropped to the ground, not that it was a long drop. Sonic was still only not a metre above her. Sonic was still struggling to break free but couldn't and eventually gave up. As Eggman commanded this new beast to raise some form of laser gun towards Sonic, he chuckled and said…  
'Life doesn't give second chances, Hedgehog!' and with that he fired the laser…

It didn't hit Sonic, though. It hit Amy, she jumped up in front of Sonic and took the shot for him. However, something strange happened. Eggman had programmed this laser to severely and brutally harm whoever was in the path of it, it could've killed them depending on the intensity setting. Instead, Amy disappeared.  
'WHAT?!' Eggman yelled.  
'Where did you send her?' Sonic questioned. He wasn't as assertive now, he was still in shock and pretty upset.  
'That wasn't supposed to happen! Those stupid piles of scrap metal! They've ruined another one of my inventions!' Eggman screeched, referring to Decoe and Bocoe. Eggman commanded the beast to drop Sonic and he dropped to the ground. In normal circumstances, Sonic would get straight back up and defeat Eggman, but not this time. He wanted answers.  
'Where is she?' Sonic asked, determination and frustration beaming at the surface.  
'I don't know, that wasn't meant to happen. It was meant to-'  
'I've figured what was meant to happen you selfish prick, now how do I find her?!' Sonic yelled.  
'What do you care, Hedgehog? She betrayed you and all your friends, remember?' Eggman said, letting these words sink so deep into Sonic's brain he thought he might explode.  
'Tell us what was really supposed to happen in that contract, Eggman!' Knuckles yelled over a loud speaker from the X-Tornado.  
'Knuckles?!' Sonic exclaimed, suddenly noticing Knuckles, Tails and Rouge in the X-Tornado behind Eggman and his new machine. Eggman turned around to find the X-Tornado aiming for him and his new ship, so instinct set in and he instantly began to panic.  
'Alright, alright. I'll tell you! I tricked Amy into signing that contract and told her it was something else. I told her I knew how she could win Sonic's heart and in return, she had to guarantee peace after I told her I was retiring.' Eggman said.  
'How could she be so naïve?!' Tails exclaimed.  
'Eggman used her feelings to his advantaged, I guess you could say she was blinded by love.' Rouge said.  
'She did all that… for me?' Sonic questioned.  
'Yes… and if you never see her again, know that she thinks you hate her!' Eggman said as he quickly drove away and disappeared into the distance.Tails drove the X-Tornado down next to Sonic and yelled for him to get in, they had to quickly get back to Tails' garage and work out how to work out how to find Amy. 

'How long had you been there?' Sonic asked as they were flying home.  
'Long enough to know what's going on.' Rouge answered.  
'Cream and Cosmo are back at our place now, Sonic. You will need to fill them in.' Tails said assertively.  
'I feel so stupid, she risked all of that for me and she now thinks I hate her.' Sonic said with his head buried in his hands.  
'Sonic, you can't beat yourself up now. You have to buck up and move on. You have to focus on helping us find Amy, you also have to be strong for Cream and Cosmo. They're going to be freaking out when we get back without her.' Knuckles said, trying to use 'tough love' on him.  
Soon enough, they were in Tails' garage gathered around his computer. Sonic had told Cream and Cosmo the details and, naturally Cream was distraught and Cosmo was there to comfort her even though she was just as upset on the inside.  
'Ok, I've plugged the X-Tornado's computer generator into my home base computer.' Tails said.  
'So?' Sonic said, confused as to what good that would do.  
'We were watching you for long enough for me to scan Eggman's new contraption. We heard him say that he thinks Decoe and Bocoe have screwed it up again so hopefully when this finishes going through the computer, the encryption process will tell us where the problem was. Tell us why Amy suddenly disappeared. Hopefully telling us where, too.' Tails said, proudly.  
'Great!' Knuckles exclaimed.  
'You're a genius, Tails.' Cosmo said with a huge smile, placing her hand over his, making them both blush.  
'It's done!' Tails exclaimed. 'Uh-Oh…'  
'What? What's 'Uh-oh, Tails?' Sonic said frantically.  
'Well I've got good news and bad news. Good news is, she hasn't travelled through time and space and she is still on Mobius. Lucky for us Decoe and Bocoe aren't exactly rocket scientists.' Tails said with a small smile, trying to look confident.  
'Then what's the bad news?' Cream asked.  
'The bad news is… she could be anywhere.' Tails answered, bowing his head.  
'What do you mean?' Rouge asked.  
'I mean, she might be within 50 miles of all our homes. She could be on the other side of Mobius for all we know. Also, for all we know she might not even be on land. She could be at the bottom of-'  
'Tails!' Cosmo exclaimed cutting him off. She knew what he was about to say. Cream was desperately trying to hold back the tears and as much as Sonic wanted to scream, he knew he had to be strong for her, for everyone.

After two days, everyone hadn't slept a wink, including little Cream. They had spread out all over looking for Amy and at the end of each day they would meet back up and set out in different directions again. By the third day, Cream was getting sick.  
'Cream, please let me take you home?' Tails insisted.  
'No, Tails! I have to help find my friend.' Cream exclaimed in between coughs.  
'But Cream-'  
'No!' she exclaimed again. Knuckles decided to step in and give it a shot.  
'Listen, Cream. We know how badly you want to help, but you're getting sick. Do you really think Amy would want you out here sick?' he questioned her. She didn't reply, knowing he was right.  
'Besides, when we find Amy, she certainly won't want to come home to chores and all that kind of stuff. Maybe you and your Mama could go over and do some cooking and cleaning? I know how much she would love that?' Knuckles said with a smile. She looked up at him, a single tear slid down from her eye as she reached up and gave him a hug.  
'Ok then, I'll go home.' She said quietly. Knuckles hugged her back, sort of in shock. Everyone else was shocked at Knuckles' sudden display of affection. Tails packed Cream up in the X-Tornado and took her home and was back a few hours later. By the time he got back it had dawned on dark.  
'We all need to sleep or we are all going to end up sick like Cream.' Knuckles said.  
'You're right, I've got some camping gear in the ship. We can set up here for the night and keep going again in the morning.' Tails said.  
Tails and Cosmo made their way to the X-Tornado and started unloading some camping gear, then Rouge began to help them set it all up.  
Sonic perched himself up on a rock, looking at the moon. He'd been sitting there a while now.  
'We will find her you know.' Knuckles said as he walked up behind him. Sonic couldn't say anything.  
'We won't stop until we find her. You know Tails is working on one of his gadget thingamabobs in order to make things easier, it's just going to take time is-'  
'We don't have time.' Sonic said cutting him off. 'She could be hurt, or worse. We don't know. We have to find her.'  
'We're doing everything we can.' Knuckles said, trying to stay calm. Sonic let out a huge sigh.  
'I know, I'm just… I'm scared for her. I miss her and I've really screwed up, Knux.' Sonic exclaimed.  
'Stop it, Sonic. You have to be strong. We will find her.' He said, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder.  
'I know. Come on, let's go over and help them set up.' Sonic said as he got up and walked towards the rest of them. Everyone pitched in and helped set up two tents, one for Knuckles and Tails and one for Rouge and Cosmo. Sonic was happy to sleep outside as usual, although tonight he was by the fire that Tails had gotten going. Not that Sonic slept anyway, after a few hours of laying down doing nothing, he walked around aimlessly looking for anything that might lead him to Amy. Of course he found nothing and had gone another night with no sleep.

Four more days had passed, they had moved camp another two times, Tails had lost count of the many miles they had trekked through and Sonic had still gone this whole time with no sleep. Sonic was getting frustrated, angry and upset and was beginning to take it out on everyone and then they would throw it back at him. In the afternoon on now the sixth day, Knuckles came across Sonic and Rouge battling it out over nothing due to sleep deprivation and frustration. Knuckles was finally able to break them up when Tails and Cosmo ran over to see what all the commotion was about.  
'Knock it off you two!' Knuckles exclaimed.  
'For God's sake, Sonic! You're fighting Rouge! Leave it alone!' Tails exclaimed.  
'What's that supposed to mean, pipsqueak? I could take this guy any day of the week!' Rouge shot back at Tails.  
'STOOOOOOOP!' Cosmo yelled, louder than anyone else. No one had ever heard her raise her voice before which caused them all to stop and stare at her.  
'Just stop! We are all tired and frustrated but this isn't doing anything to help find Amy! Just grow up! Now spread out and keep looking.' She said as she turned around and walked off. Tails tried to run after her until Rouge grabbed his shoulder and shook her head, gesturing for him to leave her. Sonic and Rouge apologized to each other. They all sat down for a few minutes and then set out in their own directions to search for Amy.

Cosmo slowly wandered through some thick bush land, trying to keep herself calm. She couldn't help but begin to cry, she was so stressed and worried about Amy. Plus, she and all of her friends were over tired. Soon enough, her thoughts were interrupted by a dark a mysterious voice…  
'You... You're the girl with Sonic and the others right?' the voice said.  
'What? Who is that? Where are you?' Cosmo said, frightened. A dark figured stepped out from behind the shadow of a tall oak tree.  
'I am Shadow, we have not met however Sonic and the rest of them have come across me before. I do not have time for introductions right now, I have something I believe you have all been looking for. Follow me.' Shadow said, gesturing behind the tree. Cosmo followed him behind the tree and to her shock horror she found her, bruised, wounded and unconscious. Amy looked like hell.  
'Where did you find her?' Cosmo questioned frantically.  
'In a ditch a few miles from here.' He replied.  
'Please sir, please help me take her to my friends. I will forever be in your debt.' Cosmo said in a desperate plea.  
'I will, only because of the form Amy is in. Usually I don't like to get involved, let's hurry.' Shadow said as he lifted Amy's motionless body and ran with Cosmo back to the X-Tornado. By the time they got there, the others had met back up.  
'Sonic! Tails!' Cosmo screamed as she ran ahead of Shadow, 'It's Amy, she's here! He found her!'  
Shadow stepped out from behind a tree with Amy in his arms. Sonic rushed over and lifted her into his own arms.  
'This girl will fill you in, I must leave.' Shadow said.  
'Thank you, Shadow.' Sonic said, looking deep into his eyes. With that Shadow turned around and left. Sonic fell to his knees and cradled Amy in his arms, trying not to look at how badly hurt she was. The others had already almost finished packing everything into the X-Tornado, roughly of course but it fit. Knuckles, Rouge and Cosmo got into the ship as Tails went over to Sonic and pulled him away from the ground and over to the ship. The X-Tornado was a five-seater now, including the driver, thanks to Tails' adjustments, plus now that Cream was back home Amy was able to be strapped into her own seat. Tails insisted that this was best, however Sonic refused and said it was best that he hold her to make sure she was safe the entire trip. The others knew it wasn't the time to mess around or pick an argument with Sonic, so they let it go and set off home after six days of searching for Amy.

It took around two hours or more for them to make their way back to Tails and Sonic's house, they had travelled such a long way. As soon as they got there, they got out and set Amy up into a small section of the garage with a bed and a few pieces of equipment that could monitor her. Cosmo rang Cream's house and told her to get over here as soon as possible. After around twenty minutes, Amy was set up in the bed and attached to the monitoring devices. Tails and Sonic sat by her bed as Rouge, Knuckles and Cosmo unloaded the X-Tornado.  
'Look at her, Tails.' Sonic said in a grueling tone. Tails' eyes went from Amy to Sonic.  
'I know she's hurt, Sonic, but she's going to be ok. It could have been a lot worse.' Tails said.  
'I thought she betrayed me, us. So I didn't even try to save her. I was so caught up in my own world of shock horror and now look what it's done. This is my fault.' Sonic said as tears began to form in his eyes.  
'Sonic. This is not your fault!' Tails yelled at him, he looked straight up into the eyes of his younger brother figure, shocked at the fact he had just raised his voice to him.  
'How dare you blame yourself? She will be fine. We will sort this out.' Tails said, lowering his voice. With that, Rouge and Cosmo walked in.  
'How about you boys go and help Knuckles put away the ship. We will get her changed and cleaned up more.' Rouge suggested, Sonic hesitated to move.  
'Sonic, my friend, you don't want to see this. Plus, I think she would be more comfortable knowing that her girlfriends were the only ones that had changed her.' Cosmo added. Sonic and Tails nodded and left to find Knuckles who was just outside the garage.

'Alright, let's get started. We will take off everything but her under garments. We need to clean up these wounds.' Rouge said, Cosmo nodded and tried to help guide Amy's motionless body out of her everyday pink dress. Amy was covered in black and blue bruises. Her arms and legs were mildly scratched all over, with some deeper cuts here and there with a few on her stomach. There were also what looked to be at least second degree burns all along her back, neck and face. Cosmo tried not to cry as she was forced to gaze upon her wounded limbs. Rouge kept on fighting, trying to be strong for Cosmo who was at least a few years younger than her. It took about twenty to thirty minutes, but they got her cleaned up much better and covered her up again with some blankets. They left her to rest and went out to see the others, by this point Cream had arrived and they had finished unloaded the ship and put it away in the garage.  
'How is she?' Knuckles asked, directing the question at Rouge.  
'She certainly looks a lot better now.' Rouge replied.  
'We cleaned her up with warm water and all the necessary creams, then we covered her up again with blankets.' Cosmo added.  
'Has she woken up yet?' Tails asked, directing this question more so towards Cosmo.  
'No. She is still out to it.' Cosmo said, bowing her head. Cream began to cry as she ran up and hugged Cosmo. Cosmo hugged her and told her not to stress because all was better now.  
Without a word, Sonic stood up and walked into the garage towards Amy's bed, pulled up a chair and sat next to her. The other stared at him for a minute but then decided to leave him.  
'If it's ok with you Tails, how about we bunk here tonight? We have all had a long week and I think it best we stick together to make sure we are all ok.' Cosmo suggested.  
'I think that is a really good idea Cosmo.' Tails replied with a smile.  
'Can I stay with you? I can cook for you all?' Cream asked politely.  
'Of course, Cream. We need a good feed!' Tails exclaimed, Knuckles and Rouge backed him up with smiles and laughs.  
'Then it's settled, we will all stay here for tonight to be safe. It's getting late enough as it is anyway. Cream and I will duck back home and get some extra blankets and pillows and be straight back.' Cosmo said, and with that her and Cream left. Tails, Knuckles and Rouge headed into the kitchen/living room area to make room for everyone spending the night.

After about an hour, after Cosmo and Cream had returned, a few beds were made and some snacks were prepared, Sonic still hadn't moved an inch from his seat by Amy's bed. He just continued to stare, tried to clean up any wound that Rouge and Cosmo may have missed even though they did a perfect job and held her hand waiting for her to wake up.  
'I'm so sorry, Amy,' he began to say to her even though he knew she was unconscious, 'I can't believe I didn't try and stop this yet you still risked your life to save me. I'm going to make this up to you.' He finished. He held her hand in both of his, kissed it then bowed his head bringing his forehead to his hands. He closed his eyes, hoping he would wake up from this nightmare. Little did he know someone else in the room had opened her eyes, barely, but they were open…  
'S-Sonic?' Amy struggled to get out. Sonic's head shot up to see her still lying there motionless, but awake.  
'Amy! You're awake!' he exclaimed.  
'Yeah, I am… It hurts though.' She said, trying to sit up. Sonic insisted she stay lying down so he sat on the bed with her, not letting go of her hand.  
'What happened?' Sonic questioned.  
'Sonic, I swear,' she began as she started to cry, 'he lied to you. He tricked me, I swear I'd never do that-'  
Sonic cut her off by lifting up her torso enough to hold her close to him.  
'I know, Amy. It was my fault and I'm so sorry.' Sonic said, trying not to get emotional. He knew he had to be strong for her, especially considering she began to cry more.  
'When I blocked you from the laser, I went somewhere. I don't know where but it was dark and cold and whoever or whatever it was… it was hurting me, as you can see.' She said gesturing to her body, with this she realized she was only wearing undergarments covered by a blanket and she got embarrassed. Sonic calmed her down and had her lay back down.  
'What happened is over now, Amy, it doesn't matter. I'm going to fix it though, I'll make them pay.' Sonic said, looking her dead in the eye. With that, Cream and Cosmo walked in and ran up to Amy which gave Sonic a chance to run into the living room and tell Tails, Knuckles and Rouge that they were going to pay Eggman another visit.  
'Amy's awake, she's fine, and Cosmo and Cream are taking care of her now.' Sonic exclaimed the second he set foot in the living room.  
'What? How?' Knuckles questioned.  
'Is she ok?' Rouge asked.  
'What happened?' Tails chimed in.  
'The four of us are going to Eggman now to find that out.' Sonic said assertively, walking back towards the garage. Before he could walk any further, Tails grabbed his arm and pulled him back to face them.  
'Sonic, you haven't slept in a week. We haven't slept properly in a week. We need to sleep well so we can be at our best to take Eggman on. Surely you agree with me?' Tails said to him.  
'He's right, we need to rest. Eggman will knock us down flat if we aren't fully aware and alert when we take him on. We will go tomorrow.' Knuckles added.  
'Exactly, Sonic. Besides, we need to spend tonight with Amy. She needs us now.' Rouge said to him. Sonic lowered his head, stressed and frustrated. He knew they were right but he was so desperate to get back at Eggman for what he had done.  
'Alright, fair enough. But we go first thing tomorrow, the four of us. Cream and Cosmo stay with Amy and we need to go after him, right?' Sonic questioned.  
'Agreed.' The other three said assertively.

After they had agreed on the plans of the following day, Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Rouge made their way over to Cosmo and Cream who had gotten Amy dressed and sitting up.  
'How are you feeling, Amy?' Tails asked.  
'A little better now that I'm awake. Cosmo, can you please help me get out of bed?' Amy asked, stretching her arm out to grab Cosmo's hand.  
'Are you sure you want to do that? You don't know-'Knuckles began.  
'I'm wounded, not crippled Knuckles.' Amy said, cutting him off. She continued to get out of bed and was assisted all the way to the living room. Cosmo and Cream sat her down on a lounge and they went over and began to prepare dinner.  
'Alright, Amy, what happened?' Rouge asked her cautiously.  
'I told Sonic when I woke up, he will fill you in. But to be honest I don't really know, all I remember was it was dark and painful.' Amy replied.  
'We will figure it out, don't worry.' Sonic said, gazing out the window.  
'He's right. Now let's just relax, we'll get something to eat and watch a few movies or something?' Tails suggested and everyone smiled and agreed.

A few hours later, around 10pm, everyone had eaten a great meal prepared by Cosmo and Cream, watched a movie or two and were out to the world… except Sonic and Amy. They were on the lounge talking, well Sonic was talking trying to get more information out of Amy. He continued asking her if she was alright, or if she needed anything or if she was tired. She would continue to stare at him with a smile and tell him she was fine.  
'Sonic, I know you haven't slept since before all of this. You need to sleep, I am fine. It's just a few scrapes and bruises now, the worst is over.' Amy assured him.  
'Are you sure? I'm just worried that Eggman-'  
'Sonic, please,' Amy began with a genuine smile, 'I know you're concerned. To be honest I've never seen you this concerned about me before.' Amy finished, with a slightly shocked look on her face as this realization had hit her.  
'What do you mean? If you're hurt, of course I worry. Especially this bad.' Sonic said proudly.  
'Really?'  
'Uh… yeah… I mean,' Sonic began to hesitate wondering if he had been too open, 'the same as I would for Cream or Tails or anyone else.'  
'Oh, I see.' Amy said with a little disappointment.  
'Yeah… well you should be getting some sleep too. Are you sure you're ok?' he asked for the millionth time.  
'Yes. Go to sleep.' She said.  
'Alright, goodnight.' He said quietly, with that he leapt over everyone sleeping and made his way up the stairs and onto the roof. He got to thinking to himself…  
_Perfect opportunity to tell her and you blew it. Good work, dumbass…_

Early the next morning, Sonic woke Cosmo and explained where he and the other three were going. He told her that her and Cream were to stay here with Amy and take care of her. Tails chimed in and told her all of the rehabilitation steps to take with her that day, other than that they could do whatever they wanted. Knuckles and Rouge suggested not going far away from the house, just to be safe. Cosmo took all this in and agreed, she wished them luck and said she would see them later that night. Knuckles, Tails and Rouge made their way to the X-Tornado but Sonic stayed back to say a few more words to Cosmo.  
'Please keep her safe, Cosmo.' Sonic said, desperately.  
'Of course, my friend.' She replied, Sonic began to walk away.  
'Sonic?' Cosmo spoke up, making Sonic turned around raising an eyebrow as if to question her.  
'When you come back, you need to tell Amy.' She said to him.  
'Tell her what?' he replied suspiciously. Cosmo looked at him with a smile as if to say '_I know your secret'_.  
'How do you know?' Sonic said with a shocked expression on his face.  
'I just know. I think it's time she does too.' She said with a smile, with that she turned around and walked back to the living room. Sonic stood still for a second longer and found himself smiling, then ran to the garage and got into the X-Tornado. No further questions asked, the four made their way to Eggman's base in the tropics to destroy the machine that hurt Amy and ensure it wouldn't happen again!

Tails flew the X-Tornado as fast as possible towards Eggman's base. They came to the decision to land a little further away from it so they had less of a chance of being spotted before they made it to the entrance of the base. Decoe and Bocoe certainly weren't the world's best security guards so they figured they would be fine. Just to be safe, whenever they came across a camera, they made sure they stayed out of its path. In little to no time at all, they were at the entrance of the base.  
'So how do you suggest we do this? Figure out a sneaky entry or break the door down?' Rouge questioned, not to anyone in particular however she expected an answer.  
'Hang on, let me take a look at the security code.' Tails said as he inspected what appeared to be the security code to open the garage. After a few seconds of typing in a few letters and numbers, Tails had cracked the code and the door opened up so they could walk in easily.  
'Nice work, Pal!' Sonic exclaimed giving him a signature thumbs up. Tails smiled back and they quickly made their way into the base.  
'The new machine is too new for Eggman to put it in with all of the others, so it will be in the centre of the base is my guess.' Rouge said.  
'Well that makes sense.' Sonic agreed.  
'Right. It's also too new for him to leave it alone, so either he or Decoe and Bocoe are going to be there with it.' Tails added.  
'You know he isn't going to be reasonable, we may as well just go in and tell him we are here to destroy it.' Knuckles said with a hint of a smile.  
'Look, let's just go in and sus it out. We will just have to wing it from there.' Sonic added. With that they began to run towards the centre of the base, little did they know they had sent off silent alarms…

They got to the control room, the centre of Eggman's base and not a soul was in sight. Just the brand new machine all connected to wires chords, probably being charged and kept at full strength.  
'Great! All I have to do is get in there, hack the system and shut it down. Making it easier for you guys to blast it, making it unrepairable!' Tails said as he began to run towards the beast.  
'Hold on there,' Knuckles began grabbing his arm, 'this is way too suspicious.'  
'Amen to that. Something fishy is going on here.' Rouge added.  
'Ah, couldn't put it past you lot now could I?' Eggman said from behind them. The four turned around to see him walking towards them.  
'Last chance, Eggman, shut down the machine or we will shut it down for you!' Sonic yelled at him.  
'You're only upset because of what happened to pink hedgehog of yours and that wasn't even my fault, although it was a happy mistake.' He said with a sick chuckle.  
'Alright then, suit yourself… NOW TAILS!' Sonic exclaimed yelling at Tails to run for the machine. Tails did as he was told and ran as fast as he could towards this beast in the attempt to shut it down, but of course it wasn't fast enough. Eggman whipped out a remote and could control all of it's movements in the palm of his hand.  
The beast leapt into action, breaking away from all the leads it was attached to. A claw reached out for Tails, stopping him in his tracks but as usual Sonic came to the rescue and this time actually destroyed the claw.  
'Rouge, get the remote! I'll help Sonic and Tails!' Knuckles exclaimed running towards the machine in a rage.  
'OH Hohohohohohoho! You're all kidding yourselves if you think you have a chance at defeating my all powerful beast!' Eggman exclaimed. Rouge decided to use this this statement to her advantage, using her charm and looks to manipulate him into defeat.  
'Hmmm… You're right Eggy. I surrender to you!' Rouge exclaimed.  
'WHAT?!' Sonic, Knuckles and Tails exclaimed. Rouge fell to her knees, half turning around enough for them to see her wink at them. Eggman, flattered and excited at her willingness to surrender, didn't think another second to invite her over to his side.  
'Alright, Bat, here take the remote and press the top button. It will finish them all off!' Eggman exclaimed.  
'Yes, sir.' Rouge said, taking the remote and taking a few steps forward. It only took a few seconds for her to look down at the remote, work out how to hack it and actually do so.  
'What?! What just happened?!' Eggman exclaimed in confusion.  
'I won't go into details, Egghead, but you're and idiot giving into her.' Knuckles said with a coy smile.  
'Gee, thanks Knuckles.' Rouge replied with the same smile, then she turned back to face Eggman. 'Alright Egghead, give it up it's over.' She said with a smirk, one that only Rouge could pull off. Sonic, Tails and Knuckles all smiled in surprise and excitement.  
'This isn't over you menaces! You can leave here and have defeated my machine but this isn't the end because I will be back!' Eggman exclaimed.  
'Right.' Rouge said with a giggle, dropping the remote the ground and smashing it with her stiletto boots.  
'NOW!' Rouge exclaimed, with that the other three took action and blew up the metallic beast with all their force and then rushed out to the X-Tornado leaving Eggman baffled.  
'ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! THAT STUPID HEDGEHOG!'

On the way back to Sonic and Tails' home, the gang laughed and talked about having once again defeated another one of Eggman's 'genius' plans. Sonic though, didn't talk as much. He couldn't help but think of Amy.  
'Chin up, Sonic,' Knuckles began, noticing Sonic's quiet behaviour, 'Amy is safe and the machine that hurt her is gone. It's all good now.'  
'You're right, I just hope she will be ok.' Sonic replied.  
'She's a lot stronger than you all give her credit for, you know.' Rouge chimed in.  
'What's that mean?' Tails questioned her.  
'Well yeah, Amy always seems to be Eggman's target but that's only because he knows how much it affects Sonic. That doesn't mean Amy can't look after herself.' Rouge said.  
'Then why doesn't she?' Knuckles questioned.  
'She tries of course, like anyone would, it's just a reflex. She knows that if she can't it's ok because Sonic will always be there to help her.' Rouge added.  
'She's right…' Sonic admitted.  
'Of course I am. It's like if he was trying to get into Tails' head, he would know to go after Cosmo.' Rouge added.  
'Huh? What are you talking about?' tails exclaimed beginning to blush, but of course everyone just laughed it off. His secret was just as obvious with Cosmo.  
'Don't deny it, Hedgehog, you feel the exact same way that she does about you. You'll never leave her alone to fend for herself and she will always make her best attempt to protect you in any way she can. That's just how it goes. Aside from when she is a rage with that God forsaken hammer, Amy isn't exactly physically strong. However, put someone she cares about in danger, or in pain, then she is stronger than any of you will ever know.' Rouge said in a calming tone, letting in sooth into the boys ears.  
'How in the hell do you know all of this?' Knuckles asked in utter shock.  
'I'm a woman, trust me. Isn't that enough?' Rouge questioned.  
'No but I'll take it anyway.' Knuckles answered making Tails giggle.  
'Anyway, Sonic,' Rouge began turning back to face him again, 'don't you think it's about time you matched her strength?' she questioned. He knew exactly what she was getting at and she expected nothing less. Of course, Tails and Knuckles didn't understand so that looked at each other clueless.  
'Cosmo said the same thing to me before we left.' Sonic admitted to her, to which she replied with a look as if to say '_Exactly, so I'm right.'_ It was by now that they had landed and drove into the garage. Cream and Cosmo rushed out to greet them.

'Did you defeat Eggman? Is his machine thingy gone?' Cream questioned over and over, barely taking in a breath.  
'It's all over, Hun, it's gone.' Rouge said with a small smile.  
'Thank goodness.' Cosmo said with her hand of her chest, letting out a sigh of relief.  
'Where's Amy?' Tails questioned. This question made Sonic's stomach drop, concern growing on his face.  
'Calm down, Tails, I'm coming.' Amy said as she walked into the room. Most of her bandages had been removed and her wounds were almost healed. With no second thought, Sonic rushed over to her and lifted her up into his arms, squeezing her to him as tight as he could. Amy couldn't have been more shocked but once the few seconds of shock had vanished, she wrapped her arms around him resting her head into his shoulder and let a tear slide down her cheek. Butterflies burst through both of their stomachs and they couldn't help but smile.  
'I've missed you.' He whispered to her.  
'Oh my God.' She replied with a smile as she pulled him closer. The others looked on, unable to hide their smiles.  
'We should probably give them some privacy.' Cosmo said.  
'You're right.' Tails said. He also found the strength to take Cosmo's hand and walk with her into the living room as the others followed. Rouge was awful proud of herself which Knuckles had clearly noticed. He put an arm around her and whispered '_Good job' _in her ear as they followed behind Tails, Cosmo and Cream, making her smile.

Sonic finally let Amy go and led her outside. Without a word, he picked her up in a bridal position and began to run. Amy let out a small yelp and held onto him for dear life, but within seconds of course, they were on a hilltop looking out at the sunset. Not the same hilltop that Eggman had found them, this one was different. Who knows what was there because all they were looking at was the stunning shades of pink, purple, orange, yellow and blue surrounding the setting sun in all it's glory. Sonic put her down and held onto her again.  
'I'm so sorry, Amy.' Sonic apologised for what she thought was the millionth time.  
'Stop it, Sonic. It wasn't your fault and it's over now.' Amy replied, stepping back to look into his eyes. Her hands cupped his face and his hands were gently placed on her waist.  
'What matters now is that you're here and we're all ok. The past is the past, ok?' she said try to reassure him.  
'I'll never let it happen again. I trust you and…' he paused, trying to find the strength.  
'And?' Amy asked as her eyes widened, waiting for him to answer.  
'I love you.' He replied, smiling and trying to let out a subtle sigh of relief. Amy smiled at this, almost laughing at his nerves.  
'I love you, Sonic the Hedgehog.' She said as she wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned in to kiss him. He almost couldn't believe that she kissed him but once he quickly got over the fact that it was happening, he wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted her off the ground for a few seconds. She ran her hands through his hair like spikes and ran them down to his face as she gently pulled away. They opened their eyes and just looked into each other's for a second longer before they began to giggle. Sonic then kissed her on the forehead and held her as they continued to watch the sunset.

Rouge was right. When Amy, or Cream, or Cosmo or one of their friends was caught in the death grips of Eggman's crazy plans, Sonic and the others would be right there in a flash to save them, no questions asked. They are strong and heroic and true friends. However when it comes to feelings as sensitive as this, maybe they aren't as strong as first thought. The girls certainly are stronger than the others give them credit for. Sometimes the girls need to come to the rescue, it just took an incident like this for it to come to the surface.


End file.
